Lloyd wrote:
> > COMMENT: Any study that dates from 1971 is, by definition very >dated. A lot more recent research has been done on this >phenomenon .since that time. Titze's book for example.
Yes, the study is dated. This fact alone does not imply to me that we can't gain some knowledge from even "dated" material. In my grad vocal ped class we used these studies for a large part of the semester.
Lloyd wrote: > > COMMENT: This "liken to" does not necessarily hold. The bicep muscle does not equate with the very different muscle fibre found in the vocal folds. > One is a slow muscle and one a very fast muscle.
The bicep comment was merely used to make a point. I did not feel it was necessary to talk about the lamina propria. Perhaps, I should have.
> Lloyd wrote:
> COMMENT: It would be of some help if you would give us the source and location of this information from Titze. I do not know of this conclusion from Titze that a rounded muscle produces high levels of acoustic >energy.
Lloyd, I don't know of an exact source of this information from Titze. It came relayed from Dr. Austin to our ped class as something he got from Ingo while working with him.
Lloyd wrote:
> COMMENT: Your first statement is not supported. Why and how is it logical that "through guided exercise, we can increase the endurance and strength > of the CT(Cricothyroid) for high pitches AND strength and bulk of the TA. Thus, creating a 'rounded' vocal fold.
I made this comment because we know that when we exercise a muscle we increase its ability to do work. It gains strength and becomes more resistant to fatigue. Vocal exercise can accomplish this same thing in the laryngeal musculature. Regarding 'rounded' fold, Titze and Hirano say: the cross sectional shape of the vocal folds carry significant implications concerning 1)shape of source spectrum, and 2)Ease of phonation.
Lloyd wrote: > > It is also necessary to keep in mind that the thyroarytenoids are not solely > responsible for the low voice and cricothyroids for the high voice.
Yes, exactly right. However, in the, as you call them-"dated" studies from '71- The vocalis muscle participation is the ONLY muscle that changes significantly across all register conditions(falsetto, head, and chest voice). This fact alone has some serious implications for the TA participation throughout the entire range. Hirano calls the TA the 'register' muscle and the CT the 'pitch- muscle.' And Lloyd we are also in agreement regarding the fact that the TA and CT muscles are always in a constant changing balance of activity(antagonism).
Lloyd wrote:
>The singers formant is the cause of ring and it is an acoustic >energy in a particular frequency range > which does not necessarily indicate an overall increase in levels of > acoustic energy.
I agree 100% that the singers formant is the cause of the 'ring.' My suggestion is that the 'chesty' quality characterized by high TA activity(rounded VF), is characterized by high levels of energy in the upper-partials, which in turn produces that 'ring.' You can try to get your voice to sing at 3000Hz all day long-without enough TA muscular activity(rounded VF) the task becomes quite difficult. Maybe the effect of the rounded VFs aids only in supplying acoustic energy to the 3000hz area- I don't know. Maybe I'll call Ingo and ask him this question.
Lloyd wrote: > It is difficult imagine any > teacher denying the existence of chest register in today's world. Why did > Garcia speak this way?
As to the exact reason why Garcia spoke that way- I don't know. Regarding the second comment I would list several reasons/stories. I'm certainly not implying that no teachers advocate the use of the chest-voice. But, there are people who are scared of the term. A world famous soprano taught at LSU for a number of years. In Dr. Austin's ped class at the time he played her for the students and commented on her amazing use of the chest register. Well when she got wind of this, she just about slapped Dr. Austin in the hallway saying,"I have never used my chest-voice-How dare you tell the students that I sing with my chest-voice." As on of the great voices of this century she not only used her chest-voice- but, used it to GREAT effect!! Also, I think it's very possible to be using the chest-voice (especially in female voices) in a not-so-healthy way. Many female, mostly mezzos, resort to harsh medial compression, chin tucking, and forcing. Yes, they sing in chest-voice. But, is it done in the most freely produced way, with the proper vowel, and the right resonance adjustment? The concern is not to just SING a chest-tone. But, a chest-tone that's RIGHT. When my fiancee Laura(21 year old mezzo) had a lesson with Reid, she spent most of the time on this very issue. She tends to darken her lower register to sound older and richer. The first comment Reid said was,"well its sound like a mezzo but, there is all this extra STUFF in there that we don't want- "Once we get rid of that, the true character of your voice will shine through." I'm still waiting to hear a chest tone like Giulietta Simionato. Now THAT was a chest tone. I'm sure Mark M. would agree;)
Lloyd wrote:
> Garcia's use of the term falsetto is also most unclear. In some of his writings he uses the term to define the male voice between the chest voice > and the head voice. In other of his writings he uses the term in a generic way to mean any voice quality that is not chest voice in >quality.
I'll attempt to explain what I know about this concept: Many teachers think of falsetto as being simply a PITCH related event. In Garcia's time falsetto was considered more of a registration event. Which is why he placed it BETWEEN the chest and head registers. To Garcia, the falsetto had the characteristics of, "the low-tones of a flute." Current pedagogy talks about falsetto as a false voice without much use. Even when I watched Miller, he did not speak very highly of falsetto as a pedagogical tool. However, the breathy-flute tone falsetto as Garcia describes, is not the pitch related/close chink falsetto current pedagogues normally accociate with the term. Garcia was rather clear on the use of the term in my understanding. Perhaps current pedagogy has ignored Garcia's original intentions.
Wow! I feel like I just wrote a dissertation. Lloyd really makes me think about everything I write on the list. It's great practice for my general exams I guess- so thanks. At 26, I think I have a pretty good knowledge base to start from. And a good amount came from the list. By the way Lloyd, Austin used your article,"Survey of Research on Vocal Falsetto", for our advanced ped class. It's an excellent article- and we even had a quiz on it ;-o
Take Care All,
Taylor L. Ferranti DMA Candidate in Vocal Pedagogy LSU
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